Stopping breastfeeding suddenly...HELP

[Myfairone]

Hi Ladies,

Have spent the weekend trying to get LO to accept a bottle...after reading all the books it seemed the best way was to offer no breast and then eventually he would take the bottle...luckily for me he saw it as a good option and took to it straight away!

Now what do I do? I have decided to stop breastfeeding (LO is 6 months and I'm returning to work and due to the nature of the work expressing is out of the question)....
I was told to bottle feed exclusively for 48 hours so that LO got the idea...which he has.

So do I now continue breastfeeding and replace one feed or do I just stop altogether and go straight to bottles?

I have been expressing like mad but my breasts dont feel right...

ANy ideas much appreciated. How can I wind down breastfeeding in a painless way?

The emotional side is a different issue, never been so tearful in my whole life! Guilt, sadness etc etc....

Oh, you poor thing!

It sounds like you've had a traumatic weekend!

What hours will you be working? Are you going back very soon? This week? Don't assume that you'll have to stop altogether - it sounds like you're having trouble with this being the end of bf?

When you say your breasts don't feel right, are they sore? Lumpy?

if it was me, I'd reintroduce an evening/early morning breastfeed, although you may find he'd rather have a bottle.

other than that, there's not much you can do other than express a little when it hurts a lot, and maybe massage your breasts a little (esp if they are lumpy).

also don't feel guilty! 6 months is good going, especially if he's your first. and you could keep going just with one feed a day.

Myfairone - it is hardly ever a good idea to stop bf suddenly

Who on earth told you to do this?

Please give us some more info to help...hunker's questions are relevant, as it is hardly ever necessary to stop bf totally when you return to work.

Thank you ladies....what a day!
I gave my LO his morning feed today because my breasts were so sore and yes lumpy!
I have expressed off today too and am going to give it to him in a bottle.

Expressing at work is not going to be an option for me as I work in different locations every day on client sites so will not be possible.

Turns out that LO has a rash today which doctor has said is eczema....I think it may be from the formula! Wish I could just carry on breastfeeding! grrrrrr....

Do you think it will be possible to give morning and evening feeds only? And how do i train my breasts to not produce milk in the day?

Thank you so much for your help

By six months, many women can reduce to a couple of feeds a day, yes....without the supply dwindling to nothing. But many can't - I have no idea of stats, sorry. The later you leave reducing the amount of feeds the better. Hafta say, that the mothers I have known who have been successful at this have not cut back until their baby was a wee bit older, and they tended to feed a bit oftener on the days they were with their babies eg at weekends, and the babies may have fed in the night too.

You can usually be really flexible if you leave it to when the baby is about 9 mths, though....hope this helps.

Still wondering who it was that told you just to stop totally and suddenly....

Thanks Tiktok...lets just say that it was a 'health professional' that suggested I give up suddenly! But then I should have known better as this was the same person who told me that it was almost impossible to feed a baby a gluten free diet and that i would be better off moving to Northern China!

Needless to say I have no time for the above mentioned person...

Turns out LO is allergic to the formula I gave him!